Pros

Helps clear up blemishes and leaves skin feeling fresh and clean

Cons

Does not help to reduce skin's oiliness

by Kate

I am 23 and was really excited to try the Mukti Clarity Balm ($30.51) as I have oily and blemish-prone skin. The organic status and lack of chemicals in the product appealed to me because any harsh ingredients can exacerbate problem skin. The active ingredients claim to be Kakadu plum, Native Pomegranate and Mountain Pepper Berry. Kakadu Plum (according to Amazon.com) is the most recent superfood to emerge from Australia as it is highly concentrated in vitamin C. While vitamin C is great for repairing skin and therefore could be good for acne scarring, I don't see any obvious benefits in terms of oiliness or blemishes and whether the concentration is enough to penetrate and have an effect on the skin. The pomegranate is high in antioxidants and therefore it is possible it will have a positive effect on the skin's condition in terms of blemishes, but again, no obvious benefit in terms of oiliness. According to Nativeextracts.com, the Mountain Pepper Berry improves fine lines and collagen and behaves like an AHA, athough these aren't marketed as benefits of the balm. However, it also states the presence of anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Again, this is great for blemish-prone skin, but doesn't really explain how oiliness will be dealt with.

I was expecting the product to decrease the oiliness of my skin and hopefully reduce the number of blemishes, too. I used it after cleansing my face by applying it all over my face (the instructions said to dot it over the face, but this didn't really make sense to me). It is supposed to be followed by aloe vera moisturiser and while I normally would have followed it with my normal moisturiser, I found that it took a long time for my skin to absorb the product and adding moisturiser on top would have been way too heavy and probably ended up slipping off my face.

I noticed some improvement in the number of blemishes I had and after application, your skin definitely feels fresh and clean and the consistency of the balm makes your skin more matte. I didn't see any particular improvement in oiliness after the product had soaked in properly.

While I think this product is great for people looking for all natural skin care alternatives, if you aren't as interested in the organic and natural status of a product, then I think there are other products out there which have more research done into the ingredients that may be more effective.